SEC Pays $4.6 Million to Bitclave Victims, Ripple Supporters Ask, ‘What About XRP?’

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Nov. 20 that it has distributed $4.6 million in restitution to investors affected by the 2017 ICO of BitClave, an Ethereum-based search engine. This payout is part of a settlement the company reached with the SEC in 2020 after being charged for failing to register its ICO as a securities offering.

Taking to social media, the official SEC handle wrote, “The checks are in the mail. We are sending out more than $4.6M to investors harmed by BitClave, PTE Ltd.’s unregistered ICO of digital asset securities. After a notice & claims process, investors will now be receiving their share of the BitClave Fair Fund.”

BitClave’s 2017 ICO raised $25.5 million in just 32 seconds, attracting thousands of investors. In 2020, under then-SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, the SEC sued BitClave, alleging that the sale of its Consumer Activity Token (CAT) violated federal securities laws.

Although BitClave did not admit to any wrongdoing, it agreed to forfeit the funds raised in the ICO, pay an additional $4 million in penalties and interest, and destroy unsold CAT tokens. The company also requested that exchanges delist the token as part of the settlement.

XRP users have expressed frustration, asking when it’s their turn for compensation. For those unfamiliar, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in 2020, and the case is still ongoing. Many experts believe that the lawsuit has contributed to a significant drop in XRP’s price. However, XRP is now trading above the $1 mark, largely due to support from pro-crypto President-elect Trump, who has promised to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler on his first day in office, offering hope to the XRP community.